Editorial: Caps on juries ignore insurance companies

Monday, Jan. 20, 2003 | 8:42 a.m.

At a time when the debate within states is far from over on the fairness and effectiveness of caps on jury awards for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases, President Bush is proposing a national cap. In a speech last week at a hospital in Pennsylvania, Bush argued for a national cap of $250,000, saying that the medical liability system is "broken." Siding with doctors, the president sees large jury awards as the core of the problem.

We say: Not so fast. Remember, medical malpractice was not an issue until the bottom fell out of the bond and stock markets, where insurance companies invested their money. Suddenly, insurance companies raised their premiums, including those for medical malpractice. Just as suddenly, doctors and insurance companies began pointing their fingers at juries, as if high awards to people who have suffered medical malpractice are the sole culprits. Although we're skeptical of it, caps on jury awards, either state by state or nationally, might indeed be part of a solution. But that solution will never be complete until insurance reform is part of the mix. It's time to bring insurance companies, whose actions kicked off the crisis, into the national debate.